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Starting a business to help people save money

JamesM_2
Posts: 160 Forumite


I live in an area with a lot of elderly people who I'm assuming will not be getting the best value for money in a lot of areas of their lives.
I'm planning on starting a small business to help these people and to make a little for myself in return.
Ideas that I've had so far are:
* Buying a thermal camera so that I can show the customer where their house is losing heat and offer economical suggestions to improve it.
* Looking at their utility bills and seeing if I can get them better offers (and potentially benefiting from cashback from topcashback etc. in the process, though I'm aware that I may not qualify as it won't be for my details).
* Ditto for insurance.
* Suggest ways to save water/electricity/gas
I wouldn't want money upfront for any of this, rather that they give me a percentage of the amount they save once they have made a saving.
I'm mostly intending to do this to help people, rather than make money but it would be nice to make a little.
My main concern is what can I do legally, without having qualifications.
Ideas of how I could work this and take payment would also be appreciated.
I am already registered as self-employed.
Many thanks.
I'm planning on starting a small business to help these people and to make a little for myself in return.
Ideas that I've had so far are:
* Buying a thermal camera so that I can show the customer where their house is losing heat and offer economical suggestions to improve it.
* Looking at their utility bills and seeing if I can get them better offers (and potentially benefiting from cashback from topcashback etc. in the process, though I'm aware that I may not qualify as it won't be for my details).
* Ditto for insurance.
* Suggest ways to save water/electricity/gas
I wouldn't want money upfront for any of this, rather that they give me a percentage of the amount they save once they have made a saving.
I'm mostly intending to do this to help people, rather than make money but it would be nice to make a little.
My main concern is what can I do legally, without having qualifications.
Ideas of how I could work this and take payment would also be appreciated.
I am already registered as self-employed.
Many thanks.
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Comments
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I have elderly parents and they are very good at saving money, and shopping around for the best deals, and as a family we share information on good deals we have found. Also both my water and energy companies regularly send out information on money saving tips. So it’s not something I or my elderly parents would pay for.
You also would need people to give you their information and let you into their homes to do some of what you are suggesting, my parents wouldn’t let anyone in without a way of identifying them as working for a particular company, which is an issue I think you might come across especially as you are wanting to carry this out for elderly people.Also how are you going to make sure you get a percentage of the savings, are you going to have a contract, and what will you do if people don’t pay. How will you know how much your customers have saved when the bills will be in their names ?I think this might be a difficult way to make money, if you do get customers, the savings may well be small, so you wouldn’t get a lot for your time.Maybe approach people you know (not just elderly) and try your ideas out on them, see how easy it is to make savings and how much you would earn, this would give you some idea as to whether your would make much money.3 -
I think the main issues are:
- that you are competent to give the advice you are giving (among other things this means that you must be thorough in your research, but you can reuse research across client providing that you check it is still current)
- that you understand what you can't give advice about and make sure you respect these boundaries (you can still help your clients by referring them to people who can help, but you need to be careful about not recommending other advisers as you might then be perceived as being responsible for their performance)
- that you understand how you are allowed to collect and use personal data (you will need a regsitration with the Information Commissioner)
- you might need insurance if you are going into someones home, in case you injure anyone or cause any damage
- you will need to keep some records to show that your advice was reasonable in the client's situation
- if you are going to act for a client, you need a very clear and precise mandate from the client - I would recommend that in all cases, changes are either made by the client or by a profession (in the case of improvements to their home)
- you will need to figure out a pricing structure. For simplicity, it would be sensible to have a percentage figure in mind and to pre-agree this with the client. Once you have a reputation and are having clients referred to you, you could ask for a retainer fee (e.g. £50) to cover your reserach in case you cannot find any way to save the client money. However, in the short term, you will need to vet your clients to check that they are a good candiate for your services, i.e. it is highly likely that you will be able to save them enough to make it worth both your whiles. If you are to receive a percentage of how much the client is expected to save, I would recommend asking for payment as soon as the changes have been made that will produce the savings, while being careful not to guarantee that they will save that amount or any amount at all. This might sound unfair, but you need to avoid creating a situation where a client is entitled to a refund in the client doesn't make a saving for reasons that are beyong your control.
The comments I post are my personal opinion. While I try to check everything is correct before posting, I can and do make mistakes, so always try to check official information sources before relying on my posts.4 -
I would start by querying your initial assumption about your target market.
tacpot12 has listed lots of good points.Things that are differerent: draw & drawer, brought & bought, loose & lose, dose & does, payed & paid2 -
It screams of potential fraud. Any relatives would want full information about the company you work for and possibly even a DBS certificate, there are huge Safeguarding issues of just going into an elderly person's home.4
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heat loss - existing competitive market so you presumably intend to chase to the bottom on price of survey and then what? Are you trained on building design and how to calculate insulation values? Double glazing window salesman breathing down your neck?
utility - join a list of existing middlemen who already do this with the support of very large organisations doing the marketing for them - why not just become a Utilities Warehouse leech agent
insurance - start a web comparison service such as.... the one MSE already offers
usage cutbacks - given your intended target market I doubt many of them would need you to show them how to live frugally3 -
tacpot12 said:I think the main issues are:
- that you are competent to give the advice you are giving (among other things this means that you must be thorough in your research, but you can reuse research across client providing that you check it is still current)
- that you understand what you can't give advice about and make sure you respect these boundaries (you can still help your clients by referring them to people who can help, but you need to be careful about not recommending other advisers as you might then be perceived as being responsible for their performance)
- that you understand how you are allowed to collect and use personal data (you will need a regsitration with the Information Commissioner)
- you might need insurance if you are going into someones home, in case you injure anyone or cause any damage
- you will need to keep some records to show that your advice was reasonable in the client's situation
- if you are going to act for a client, you need a very clear and precise mandate from the client - I would recommend that in all cases, changes are either made by the client or by a profession (in the case of improvements to their home)
- you will need to figure out a pricing structure. For simplicity, it would be sensible to have a percentage figure in mind and to pre-agree this with the client. Once you have a reputation and are having clients referred to you, you could ask for a retainer fee (e.g. £50) to cover your reserach in case you cannot find any way to save the client money. However, in the short term, you will need to vet your clients to check that they are a good candiate for your services, i.e. it is highly likely that you will be able to save them enough to make it worth both your whiles. If you are to receive a percentage of how much the client is expected to save, I would recommend asking for payment as soon as the changes have been made that will produce the savings, while being careful not to guarantee that they will save that amount or any amount at all. This might sound unfair, but you need to avoid creating a situation where a client is entitled to a refund in the client doesn't make a saving for reasons that are beyong your control.
Potentially an Independent Financial Advisor qualification to make everything above board, etc etc.
So much red tape and expense there, would it be worth it?2 -
You may also need to look into personal liability insurance that will protect you if you accidentally give someone the wrong, particularly in regards to insurance.
Also if the advice you give means the customer has to purchase something, for example better double glazing, you may find a customer will argue that you haven’t made them any savings until the cost of the windows have been covered, so you need to make sure your contract is clear on this so that you don’t loose out.
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JamesM_2 said:I live in an area with a lot of elderly people who I'm assuming will not be getting the best value for money in a lot of areas of their lives.
I'm planning on starting a small business to help these people and to make a little for myself in return.
Ideas that I've had so far are:
* Buying a thermal camera so that I can show the customer where their house is losing heat and offer economical suggestions to improve it.
* Looking at their utility bills and seeing if I can get them better offers (and potentially benefiting from cashback from topcashback etc. in the process, though I'm aware that I may not qualify as it won't be for my details).
* Ditto for insurance.
* Suggest ways to save water/electricity/gas
I wouldn't want money upfront for any of this, rather that they give me a percentage of the amount they save once they have made a saving.
I'm mostly intending to do this to help people, rather than make money but it would be nice to make a little.
My main concern is what can I do legally, without having qualifications.
Ideas of how I could work this and take payment would also be appreciated.
I am already registered as self-employed.
Many thanks.
Except the charitable organisations are not seeking to fleece the vulnerable as part of the plan2 -
Forget it, you're offering nothing that it isn't already availableIf you are querying your Council Tax band would you please state whether you are in England, Scotland or Wales4
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lincroft1710 said:Forget it, you're offering nothing that it isn't already available
The danger I feel is if family members think you are muscling in on their territory, even though they are not getting too involved themselves. Families are all different, there is the danger that you could be accused of trying to take advantage of the vulnerable.
I also think that the elderly (as the group I talk to a lot) would be reluctant to pay out money in the hope of reduced bills.I'm a Forum Ambassador on the housing, mortgages, student & coronavirus Boards, money saving boards. I volunteer to help get your forum questions answered and keep the forum running smoothly. Forum Ambassadors are not moderators and don't read every post. If you spot an illegal or inappropriate post then please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com (it's not part of my role to deal with this). Any views are mine and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.com.0
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